Blog

Is there any woman who is absolutely content with the state of their hair? Particularly when it comes down to volume–when women are discussing their hair, the conversation typically centers around the ones who feel their hair is too thin, and those who hate how thick their hair is. All in all, there seem to be a number of women who would give their all to have thicker hair, and especially in specific instances.

More Volume Where it’s Truly Needed
All-over thicker hair, and more volume in general, is not exactly what any woman wants. It is more about being able to easily produce volume in the desired spots that best complement any specific hairstyle. It’s about hair control, and being able to form your hair into the precise shapes that any style requires. No such thing would be possible without strategic formulations, procedures and tools to pull it off. Fortunately, women today have a wealth of products to help and assist them in producing strategic volume where it will look best, while simultaneously allowing them to leave other sections of any hairstyle less voluminous for desired effects.

Where it All Begins
Make sure you start with a clean slate. Hair that is weighted down by a number of products can be a major deterrent to volume. Make sure to add a powerfully cleansing shampoo to your collection, that comes dedicated to clearing your scalp and invigorating the boost of your hair’s roots. Look for ingredients like coconut, almond, soybean and sunflower oils that are proven volume-producers.

Fill up on Filloxane
Studies have shown how almost half of all women contend with worries over how their hair is thinning. There is good news for these women and many others who might have such concerns. The keyword is “Filloxane.” This proven hair thickening agent remarkably inserts itself right into the shaft of the hair, which results in a thickness from inside the hair shaft. Look for this key ingredient in the hair products you select. You’ll find it in shampoos, in-shower treatments and specially formulated conditioners.

Roots Down
Before going to bed, arrange your hair up, on top of your head, thereby pulling it from the roots upward. Take strands from there and twist into curls that are secured with bobby pins for tomorrow’s hairstyle. And when you blow dry your hair, do it upside down, which gives the roots an added boost for ensured volume.

Add-Ins You Can Use
There are many dry shampoos on the market that can double as hair volumizers. In addition to products specifically formulated for adding dry volume, these hair volumizers are wonderful for not only adding volume, but at the same time, adding an awesome control to everything you want to do, including teasing and updos. And what is amazing is that even when you don’t have any specific volume-adding products and you need volumizing on the fly, look no further than your pantry, spice cabinet or bathroom. Try using the best-colored product to match your hair color. Cocoa powder works great to volumize darker shades, and talcum powder can be exactly what’s needed to lift those lighter colored locks.

If you’ve gotten hooked into the wildly fascinating, darkly humored show Scream Queens, you should check this rapid fire show full of Chanels. This spooky-themed show from Ryan Murphy borders more on comedy, but everyone want to know more about the hairstyles. The show’s main character Chanel has sidekicks–or minions who absolutely worship her, doing everything she tells them to and wants from them. In exchange, they receive popularity and the supreme position at school. Self-possessed Chanel cares so little about these three that she literally calls them Chanel number two, Chanel number three and Chanel number five. She doesn’t even know what their real names are, and she doesn’t care what they are, either. Recently, Jennifer Johnson (Gossip Girl,) the show’s main hairstylist revealed to the world a lot of details regarding the way she designs the hairstyles for all the show’s beauties, along with their flashy hair accessories. Inquiring minds–of fans who’ve become entranced by this show since it first aired in September–want to know.

A Little Goes a Long Way
Among the questions, Jennifer Johnson’s been answering are some pressing ones regarding the potential for Lea Michele’s character getting a makeover. Johnson credits her five years of work on Gossip Girl for giving her the expertise to be able to pull off her high tone styles with such an apparent ease. She enjoys the fact that her hairstyling history speaks for itself among everyone in the biz. Skyler Samuels plays Grace, and has admitted being a diehard fan of the series, sharing how she and her mom would always watch the show so that they could do the same hairstyles themselves. She confesses that many times, she’ll take a Gossip Girl hair design and tweak it to become a do for the new show. Anytime Johnson is questioned about makeovers and glam effects, her default answer is to tell the questioner to “Tune in to watch the show and you’ll see.”

How They Do it and Manage to Keep Their Hair in Place
All the antics and special features are a bit demanding of the girls’ hair, and a lot more than in the show “Gossip Girl.” In order to make sure the hairdos remain in place throughout, it’s all about the products that really work and hold. Especially as the girls on this show are known to do most of their own stunts. Without the right products, it could be a disaster. And as far as accessories go, the Chanel’s impressive hair accessories–which are a huge focal point of the series–from chains to barrettes–an insider secret. Most of these cool finds are from Etsy and Ricky’s NYC. Earmuffs come from Kizmuffs. These were Billie Lourd’s pastel ear covers–the Chanel number three.

Here you are, with another social engagement on your calendar, and you may have already decided what you will wear, shoes, lipstick color, jewelry and perfume. Of course, you can just show up with the hairstyle you always wear–your trademark–you know, the one that makes it a no-fail for friends and family who might ever need to identify you in the most crowded of people configurations. You could just mindlessly brush that hair and gather it all into a flat but easy high ponytail that has your name all over it. You could even go with just brushing or running your fingers through your tresses and be done. You could get wild and do a side braid OR–try this trick that has everyone pouring through the Internet to find the stuff on the fluff–aka tutorials on the how-to for adding fluffy to otherwise flat braids.

Controlled Fluff Comes Into its Own
At first glance, the words “fluffy” and “braid” would seem to be at opposing ends of the spectrum of anything–fluffy conjuring up imagery of airy, light and freely unrestricted. Braids, on the other hand are essentially a form of controlling the hair within a woven pattern that is anything but loose and free. At least, that’s what we’ve all been thinking until now. Regardless of the type of hair you have, spanning the whole range of possibilities, you can create a big, dramatic style that manages to pull your hair back and away from your face but keep it more feminine and interesting, with uncommon dimension.

What Helps
There are a few tricks that make it easier to render a heightened degree of fluff and volume to the most lifeless, limp and lazy hair. One is to never attempt any braided anything with freshly shampooed hair, dry or wet. There is no time when your hair is going to be silkier and less interested in grabbing itself in any lasting fashion. Might sound opposite of anything your mom taught you, but don’t wash your hair right before or the day of any occasion that might include your hair, and a special braided look you’re going for. Next-day-hair is always better, and two-days-out hair is supreme. Any longer, and you’re on your own. Just sayin’. And another great hack for style control is the dry shampoo products out there. Some are in powder form, which offer limited application control, but will work when that’s all you have. The ones that are aerosol sprays are the best. And if you don’t have either form, you can always sub talcum powder or cornstarch for lighter shades of hair and cocoa powder for dark shades, and for medium shades, try mixing the two. These immediately give your hair the support to support your hair effort to go big. Going big and fluffy, contrary to a prevalent misgiving, does not have to involve the adding of hair extensions. If you love ‘em, don’t stop, but you can go without them and you’ll be fine.

The Trending Focus
You’re going to see the most fluffy effects trending right now with fishtail braids. There are some amazing styles that involve a lot of cool braiding effects to check out. Here is the basic how-to for growing the fluff and volume of any braid:

With any braid, it always helps to add a visual fluff when you begin a bit away from the scalp. Many actually begin lower even, with the hair ungathered in a poof preceding the point where the braiding begins. But once you have braided all the way down to the end, secure the braid with a clear, elastic thingy.

Begin a process of semi-pancaking. Beginning at the top of the braid, start loosening up the sections, one by one, all the way down to the end.

Pull on the top section preceding the braid to give it more fullness.

The braid may almost feel like it is going to separate completely, but this is where you go in with bobby pins hidden but securely holding the braid in place. Also, with each loosening progression, give it a light spray with hairspray and let dry before going on.

Once done, give the whole braid and “non-braid” a securing with hairspray. Check for any bobby pins that might be showing.

There are some people who cannot bear to leave the house without squeaky-clean hair, which means they wash their locks daily. On the other end of the spectrum, you’ll find those who absolutely dread having to make the extra effort to wash (and dry) their hair, and perform the entire process grudgingly. Just where any one person happens to fall within this range, as it turns out, has a lot less to do with the general health of your hair than you might have previously believed.

How’s That (Shampoo and Conditioner) Workin’ for Ya?
Can you really tell if and how your go-to brands of shampoo and conditioner are working? The effectiveness in cleaning your hair and the level of protection it provides are often two distinctly opposing issues. Often, the superior performance of one even cancels out the other. You can’t always rely on the volume of hair that winds up in your hairbrush, either, as there are too many peripheral conditions that could factor into any brush hair tally.

How Shampoo and Conditioner Are Frequently Evaluated at the Store
A whole lot of women either mindlessly reach, grab and take their regular brand–usually the same brand, matched set, or, they are drawn first to the packaging–and often to the placement of the products. For instance, it is not uncommon for stores to segregate their high-end hair products away from the larger mass of mid-range products. Being located in the high-end section has very little to do with assuring quality and value. But next to the packaging, the wording used to describe shampoos and conditioners weigh in, pretty heavily. Most women are searching for products that will perform specific results and remedies. So, if the labeling says so, it does…right? Then, what comes next–and can even sway an almost done deal away from becoming a purchase–is the scent of both products. In shampoo and conditioner especially, scent is very critical. Just is. This is why you might find some of the product on either side of the bottle or around the rim. This is from shoppers removing the tops and giving the bottle a firm squeeze, in the interest of getting a whiff of the scent. More often than not, the squeeze is a bit too firm, resulting in product overflow, at which point the shopper replaces the cap, and returns the product to the shelf. And this is even when they decide to buy. They will characteristically next go for a virginal bottle. Regardless of any exact rating methods, most fall short of being anything more than a waste of time.

There is no One Best Product
It’s great to get reliable recommendations from friends who understand or share your same product performance requirements. Your stylist understands your hair and what type of products are needed to supplement its weaknesses and downplay any less wanted attributes. Scores of commercials for WEN seem to proliferate the Internet in an endless stream, and if you listen to their claims, they’ll convince you to feel awfully guilty every time you reach for that bottle of shampoo, for eternity. Now, WEN claims to be all natural, and emphasizes that the evidence is in the absence of suds-which would have you running from every other shampoo, if you were to buy into this. The original list of key ingredients for WEN has been modified, and any company queries now produce vague redirection, at best. Against claims made by manufacturers of this product, WEN contains petrochemicals, sulfates and some that even come with warnings regarding use. Feel better now? Good!

DIY Hair Products
For the die-hard DIYers, you can make your own shampoo at home. This clay shampoo is reportedly good for all hair types. It is definitely all natural and it won’t strip the hair. It won’t keep–(no preservatives, OK?)–so you can only mix up a week’s worth at a time, and you’ll be responsible for bottling/packaging. It’s so gentle, you don’t even have to follow up with conditioner. Ingredients and sources below.

5 Tablespoons filtered water–can be diluted as needed, but do not decrease water. Filtered water: (Sold just about anywhere.)

Optional–as desired, you can add one or a blend of essential oils. Among those best known to promote hair health are thyme, cedarwood, lavender, lemon and rosemary. (Buy at organic and health food stores.)

Pour mixture onto dry hair (it can be rather runny,) with small amounts evenly distributed. Rub the mixture into the scalp as you proceed. Let sit for five minutes, but add more mix as needed to prevent it from drying on your head. Feel free to use as a face mask at the same time, but let the mask fully dry. Finish up by thoroughly rinsing in shower with warm water. Adjust proportions as needed, from results. Too dry? Reduce amount of clay.

The Basic Shopping “Need to Know”
Whatever products you go with, stay away from parabens and sulfates. There are some particular hair qualities that require special attention. The following are the most common:

If your hair is fine: Go for a good volumizing shampoo.

For curly hair: Shampooing with a product formulated for dry or chemically treated hair will help you tame those curls and make them easier to style.

When your hair is dry: Shampoos that claim to deliver more intensive moisture therapy and replenishment are the best bet. Look for naturally derived oils among the list of ingredients, as these are the most readily absorbed by your hair. Some top emollients are found in the oil from avocados, rapeseed oil and argan oil. The very best? Coconut oil..all the way.

For oily hair: Stick with shampoos designed to handle oily hair. Avoid label descriptives like “moisturizing” and “conditioning.”

When dandruff is an issue: Stick with products formulated expressly for dandruff. Ketoconazole, zinc pyrithione and selenium sulfide are important ingredients to look for.

Color treated and chemically processed hair: Look for products that are geared for extra protective performance for the specific processing in your hair.

You don’t have to wash your hair every day. Every other day, and sometimes every three days is sufficient. The shorter the hair, the more often it needs washing.

Within the myriad of responsibilities and deadlines that multiply exponentially at this particular time of year, don’t you dare forget about you. In terms of all the most important seasonal specialties, you factor in there, and prominently. One of the best gifts you could ever possibly give to your family and friends–the people who care about you–is the gift of you. Now, while that certainly has some grounding in the special time that you purposely set aside to spend together having fun and celebrating the holidays, it won’t happen if you’re not up to it. One of the biggest mistakes people make–and during the holidays especially–is self-neglect. Contrarily, one of the nicest things people can do for others is to show up looking fantastic, and as well-rested and de-stressed as humanly possible. There is just something about the general condition of others and how it can affect our mood. When you are around friends and family who appear to have put some effort into their appearance, it makes you feel better. So what ideas do you have, in planning your holiday looks, and how realistic are they? Believe it or not, there is a whole lot of mileage you can get out of a few hairstyle changes that will make sure you rock every party, event, school and work function on your calendar this year.

Go Big or….?
Why not? It’s the holidays! Why not allow yourself the freedom of doing more than switching the direction of which you wrap your hair around the barrel of the curling wand. There are so many innovations that have been hitting the Internet and salons everywhere, to continually deliver new style and impressive beauty in a distinctive holiday measure that goes a little further than simply transitioning from a half-up to a ponytail with a red bow around it. Wanna know more? Here are a few of the nicest trending hairstyles for this holiday procession:

Going Ornamental
This hairstyle is definitely for a dramatic entrance, but you can be sure that it will be copied. It begins with a bob–preferably jaw length on down to just below the shoulders, although with a high ponytail, it could rock some uber-long ends, as well. When you’re out shopping–and particularly at those big box arts and crafts stores–you are going to be looking for smallish, but statement-making items that could be or could double as holiday ornaments. Now, what a holiday ornament might be is all up to you. Whatever you end up buying, make sure they are no bigger than one inch in their largest diameter, and you’ll need a minimum of 8, with a maximum of around 15–some will depend on how thick your hair is. Take ‘em home, and prepare your ornaments by using a hot glue gun to attach each one to its own elastic hair band–you know, the smaller ones that are about 1 to 1.5 inches in diameter? Once you’re done, just set them aside for the next occasion requiring a hairstyle.

Begin by evenly sectioning the hair in half, then sectioning the halves into halves and so forth, proceeding until you have reached the number of equal-in-size sections equaling the number of ornaments you have waiting.

Fully straighten your hair.

Here is where you can be creative: Using the elastic bands glued to the ornaments, proceed to gather each section of hair, securing with the ornamented elastic band. The gathering points can be at the same place, forming a visual horizontal line of ornaments, or they can be staggered. Suggested levels are midway down and one or two inches above the ends.

When your gathers are midway down, you can finish off with some beachy waves that begin at the ornament and proceed down to one inch from the ends.

If you use hairspray, be careful if you need to protect your hair ornaments.

Dip Dye the Dark
This one is the least permanent when rendered to darker shades, so if you have light colored hair, and especially if it has been chemically processed, this may be a color you’ll be living with for a while, but this aspect is up to you. Dip-dying the ends of hair is a fun trend that can be accomplished from different dye solutions that include manic panic (permanent) to Kool Aid. Go full on with one color, all the way around, or alternate colors, all the way around. This is one to try out first, before the day of. Just sayin’. But it’s a lot of fun, and will share a lot of holiday spirit.

In the heat of summer months, the best relief always comes from the newest updos we can get inspired to try, and thanks to the rich tutorials on the Internet, there is no shortage of them. By the time winter comes around, with its chilly temps, longer locks that cover our heads and protect our necks from the icy winds are a great default style, however we put our hair into fancy updos almost as often during the cold days and nights of winter as we do in summer, although for different reasons. We seek the trendiest forms of fashionable styling more in an effort to dress “up,” There are a lot more updos seen during winter evenings, as a result. There are some new techniques that at first glance, threaten to go untried, even by the most proficient DIYers of hair, but every one of them just needs to be broken down into bite-size chunks, then practiced, then they’ll become a standard component of your hairstyling repertoire! Check these out, for some true winter hair inspiration:

The Awesome Knot Braid
This looks like an impossible feat for the home hair DIY novice, but it’s actually a lot easier than you think:

Section out a triangle of your hair at the hairline going back toward the crown, as if you were going to do a French or Dutch braid. Divide that section into two equal halves and tie the first step of a knot.

While securing your knot with one hand, by holding onto both ends in your right hand, with your left hand, pull some hair in from your left side to add to the strand.

Divide this newly added-to strand into two equal parts and tie the same knot as in the first step.

Now, hold the hair ends from the new knot and grab a section of your hair on the right side with your right hand and add that to the working knot braid. Halve, then knot, just as before.

Continue this adding and knotting process all the way down, either tying off at the nape of your neck or proceed all the way down to the ends of your hair and secure with a tiny elastic band.

Where you tie off your knotted braid, take a small section of hair and wrap around and around to hide the elastic, and secure with a hidden bobby pin.

This is the exact same principle of the French and Dutch braids, but really easier in many ways! And it looks amazing and difficult, at the same time! Don’t tell ‘em how easy it was for you, just smile and say “thanks!”

Go Big, With Real Looking Extensions
When you add extensions to your own natural hair the correct way, they add gorgeous volume that rocks any hair style, with added thickness and also the length, if that’s your goal. This is the ticket for opening the door to many hair hacks you previously felt were not within your range of possibilities. You just need to know how, and get yourself the right extensions, and it’ll be your little secret for glam hair you’ll have everyone wondering about. While the heat of summer may have you wanting to reduce the volume of hair you have to deal with, the colder winter months make extensions a great way to bulk up with volume from some extra hair extensions. The best spots to add in extensions are any places where you are placing a clip, headband, tie or elastic band. This is the way to conceal where the extensions begin. Once you have a few signature hairstyles that incorporate extensions, you can cut the ones you use for one hairstyle–so they’ll turn out the right length, and then you might have other extensions you leave longer for other styles. Make your own hairpiece headband with uniquely braided extensions that you can just slide or clip on and go! Ponytails, braids, knots and buns are all ideal for volumizing with extensions, and no one has to know!

Get Set for Winter With Hot Curl Hacks
Adding new, fun ways to enjoy even more use from your heated styling tools is always a good thing, and you can never learn everything there is to know about using these devices for an infinite journey into new and fun hair shaping sessions. Here are a few hair hacks to try out this winter:

Ditch the clamp and wind hair onto the barrel from the roots outward.

Twist each section of hair before you wrap it around the heated wand.

Take your flat iron and run it down braided sections of hair for unique and quick waves.

Funny, isn’t it, how you seem to be able to go for a good little while after having your roots done, but then suddenly, you look into the mirror and can not believe your eyes! If you didn’t know better, you might be inclined to believe that your hair doesn’t grow gradually, in a sort of consistent process, the normal way that everyone else’s hair grows–no, you have hair that grows in spurts–with these erratic and sudden blasts of about a half to a full inch or so at a time. Now, if this rather crazy growth had any predictable sort of pattern to it, you could schedule touch up appointments to appropriately coincide, and avoid ever being forced out into the public with telltale roots again.

Heaven Forbid it Should Ever Happen to You
You try to keep ahead of the root-race, because you’ve seen women who haven’t. These women evoke highly opinionated thoughts of others who either pity them, imagining “Oh, she must not realize how bad those roots look,” or “Poor thing, she just doesn’t have the time to care for herself like she needs to,” or more inflamed thoughts like, “Why does she even bother coloring her hair, if she’s not going to keep up with those roots of hers?” Such conclusions can often backfire, as life has a way of feeding us back those words and thoughts of admonishment, and if–no, when you discover that more than too much of your high-contrasting roots are visible, it doesn’t have to ruin your day. “Day-ruining,” in terms of whatever actual period of time lapses between your root discovery and consequent application of a chemical solution to resolve the issue satisfactorily.

Factors to First Consider
The ease by which you might fix those roots will depend on the method of color fix you use, and the method you use will be influenced by whether you are going lighter for dark roots, or darker for light roots. The term “light roots” encompasses gray hair, as well as all the other lighter shades than your signature color choice. Think about how long you hope your quick fix will last, as there are different ways to get color help that will last for different time periods.

The Do Away With Gray Way
One of the chief reasons for women to color their hair is to cover the appearance of gray. Now, gray hair is associated with old age, but it really shouldn’t be, with so many people in their twenties first noticing a strand or two of the gray matter among their otherwise full of color locks. While there are many shades of gray that are absolutely lovely, there are just as many if not more that are unsightly. These do nothing to flatter anyone’s appearance, and the only humane thing to do is to cover them, and resolve to forever banish them to obscurity.

Home Fixes Between Salon Sessions
There are a few ways you can extend that time between professionally rendered color for new growth. There are a number of products you can purchase at the drugstore–and these often go on sale, so be on the lookout. The best way to “get your feet wet” is to start out using a semi-permanent color. Match it closely to your colored hair, and if this means going lighter, then when using a semi-permanent product, choose one that is a shade or two lighter. The semi-permanent products don’t have the intensity of lightning power as one with bleach might. As for the products sold expressly as “root touch-up” formulations, these are basically a waste of money. There is really nothing different about them, and you get less product for more money. If you decide to go with a permanent color at home, you can get by with applying purposefully rendered streaks of color, particularly to soften the color edge at the demarcation line–that point where one color ends and the other color begins. In general, efforts to go lighter with roots are subject to more limitations. There are some new powder products that effectively lighten, but they can be pricey.

Going Darker
When you are treating lighter or gray roots, you have more options. Aside from the semi-permanent hair color kits at the drugstore, there are liquid toners you can apply every time you wash your hair, as a final rinse. There are forms of hair color that are designed to be sprayed on from aerosol cans. These wash out, like the toners. There are some easy to apply root touch-up products that look and perform exactly like mascara. Style hair first, then apply to any visible roots. A little secret of more than a few savvy women has been to use actual art markers on their roots. Because these markers come in so many distinctive colors, there is a nice range for matching any hair shade. Thankfully, there have been a few hair coloring products to catch on, and now offer the art marker type of coloring for roots–and it has been formulated to be safe and effective for such use–unlike regular art markers. When you are going darker temporarily, if you will be sleeping on your temporary color, protect your pillow, as the darker colors can rub off during sleep.

With the American nation buried deeply in a paralyzed economy of the Great Depression, a toll was taken on every aspect of life as it has been during the high times of the Roaring Twenties. There was nothing left unscathed, from the way everything had been done and even thought about. Hope was a scarcity when so many American families could not afford to buy anything, often missing much-needed meals and sufficient warmth from chilly winter temps. Thankfully, the end of the preceding decade had ushered in a new form of entertainment that surely sustained many a survivor of the Great Depression–and this new charm was the talking movie. Talking pictures were what they were commonly called, but these sound on movie films offered a wonderful escape to moviegoers from all walks of life. It is highly likely that the precise state of having so little prompted moviegoers to dive into these talking pictures with even more zeal. The leading ladies or heroines of screen fame became the representations of glamor and beauty. Wise directors knew that these new women of film and screen had to appear authentic–from attire and hair to the environment. Had these leading ladies been less believable or too fancy, they would have lost attendance and ultimately served to discourage moviegoers everywhere.

From the 20s to the 30s
Disappearing from female heads were those oh so adorable shingle bobs and fingerwaves of Flapper fixation, as hairdos made way for a less polished look, with far less “fuss.” Anyone in search of the prominent hairstyles of the 30s need look no further than to any of the leading screen stresses of the decade, who served as the iconic representation of styles that were certainly both achievable and functional at the same time. For many a 30s woman, staying blonde required a good measure of craftiness in using Clorox bleach, peroxide, Lux soap and ammonia to achieve the colorless color previously much easier for the public to come by. Softer curls were now brushed, and thus stood out further from the head and face, and the headbands that had previously been adorned by jewels, sequins and feathers were now replaced by more modest headwear in the form of hats with contained features and brims.

Typical Defining Elements of 1930s Hairstyle Features
Being blonde was big, along with fingerwaves that progressed downward in perfect uniform alignment–all to the right, then back to the left and again right, left and so forth, until the ends of the hair. The general range of hair length was always somewhere below the ear, with most cuts occurring somewhere along neck level, with a few memorable stars flaunting long, slick and straight hair that curled beautifully on the ends. Bangs and bang-less styles ran neck in neck, however, the side part was found in every styling effort now. Another standardized hairstyle component of the 1930s was the manner in which the hair would proceed from the part, flat and as straight as possible, until at some point it suddenly sprang to life in whatever manner of curls–waves or other deviations from straight–were the objective.

The manner in which Native American women has remained the same, traditionally speaking, through time, with the most commonly displayed basic one or two braids comprising the standard, and with specific placement and ornamentation further serving to define a manner of details, such as marital status, age, social position and more. Often, the precise way in which the hair of both women and men of any tribe is styled will communicate to you about which tribe the individual belongs to. A bit rarer, the women of some tribes distinguished themselves by total signature hairstyles of their very own that were absolutely impossible to confuse as coming from any other originating tribe.

A Few Signature Women’s Tribally-Identified Styles
The Seminole women, for instance, wore one of the oddest forms of hairstyles with their hair wrapped around a flat, disc-shaped board worn on their heads. The Creek and Chickasaw women wore their long, black hair twisted into a variety of styles of buns and topknots. More ornate hairstyles were stiffened by applications of bear grease and clay, and sometimes adding in soot to make the hair appear blacker. The Native American men actually had a good deal more options for wearing their hair, with some even being fully or partially shaven clean.

The Hopi Distinction
Among the Native American tribes known for the more distinctive hairstyles worn by their women, you’ll find the Pueblo Hopis of Arizona, whose form of styling the hair of the tribe’s unmarried women once they became of the age to marry. These were referred to as Squash Blossom Whorls or Butterfly Whorls. The closest thing you could compare them to from today’s culture might be Mickey Mouse Ears. After they married, these women would proceed to regularly wear one single braid down the back. The effects for unmarried Hopi women could get pretty elaborate, with the young woman’s mother winding her daughter’s hair around and around a curved piece of wood. This would give the tightly wound hair a distinctive shape, in different finished sizes, depending on the young lady’s hair volume. After the winding was completed, the wood was removed. To the Hopi Indians, squash blossoms represent fertility, and they hold an annual Soyala winter solstice ceremony, wherein squash blossoms are used as the decorations.

The Hopi Squash Blossom as Inspiration in Broader, Modern American Culture
The elaborate Squash Blossom Whorls have become the source of inspiration behind well-known public imagery. The way Bjork’s hair is eloquently styled on the cover of Homogenic–her album finds its origin from Hopi creativity, and the iconic Princess Leia, whose trademark hairstyle was those two, rather space aged side buns that we can not forget, no matter how hard we may try. Unlike the myriad of ways in which we wear our hair today, the Hopi women, as well as the whole of the Native American Tribal Nation took hair and the exact manner of styling as it varied from tribe to tribe, very seriously, with nothing but meaning behind every element.

Most people are familiar with the multitude of infomercials selling the product Wen, lauded by celebs everywhere as the only safe way to care for your hair. If you happen to be among the masses of people who, upon seeing the commercial, were compelled to purchase the product, with visions of more healthy, more beautiful and more full hair than ever before, you may or may not have been delighted with your purchase. This is because Wen is nothing like any form of conventional shampoo you’ve ever used. It may not, to many people, even feel like it’s capable of actually cleaning the hair, being devoid of those characteristic detergent styled performing aspects. No suds, no squeaky anything and perhaps no noticeable difference at the beginning. Users of Wen who choose to go on using the product mostly become fully enamored with it, and how it improves the condition off their hair over time.

Wen-less Hair Care, the Native American Way
While Wen is not the brainchild of Native America, it is, in many ways, representative of the way that Native Americans look at hair care, and what they look for, and expect–in terms of performance. There is no desire to see or feel a bunch of bubbly suds as they wash–and more than a few tribal methods of hair cleaning would not even qualify to be categorized as cleaning at all, under the prevalent U.S. standard definition today. Native American hair cleaning ranges from the unadulterated water-only method, on up to include an assortment of botanical extracts and all-natural components that have proven their hair beautification power, and passed along by tribal elders in educating their young Native fledglings.

Native American Hair Styles
Here again, there are none of the hair styling products used prevalently by so many. It’s only naturally occurring herbs and plants that become hair styling ingredients. There are concoctions using plant extracts, which are combined with grease rendered from animal hooves and such, that are lauded among Native Americans for their power to beautify hair. Store bought products pretty much begin and end with Vaseline–that’s right. They use it particularly when a hair styling effort is needed to stay put, as such is a requirement in tribal dancing. Native American hairstyles are more or less limited to one braid down the back, two braids–with one to either side of the head, hair buns and unbraided, straight and unadorned hair. Native Americans regard the hair as part of their spirituality, and because of this, frown on cutting of the hair, instead praising long hair that is not cut.

Not Your Thing?
You may not find anything here that you are particularly drawn to, but just remember this: Of all cultures, Native Americans experience hair anomalies like male pattern baldness and hair thinning significantly less than other cultures, and they have typically the thickest, healthiest hair around. Perhaps it’s time to think again.